A Traverse City, Michigan hair salon is receiving backlash after announcing on social media that it will not serve potential clients who identify as transgender or queer.

In a now-deleted Facebook post that has since been re-posted on a Traverse City-area Facebook page, the owner of Studio 8 Hair Lab wrote: “If a human identifies as anything other than a man/woman please seek services at a local pet groomer. You are not welcome at this salon. Period.”

The post continued, “Should you request to have a particular pronoun used please note we may simply refer to you as ‘hey you.’ Regardless of MI HB 4744.”

The citation appears to be an erroneous reference to HB 4474, a bill to expand Michigan’s hate crime law to protect victims targeted due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.

According to the Detroit Free Press, misinformation has spread online that the hate crimes bill would criminalize people who use incorrect pronouns to refer to LGBTQ individuals. But neither that law — nor the elections-related law cited by Studio 8 in its initial post — would have any bearing on whether a business provides services to a particular group of people.

Rather, that would be Michigan’s recently passed law to expand the state’s Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act to protect LGBTQ individuals from discrimination.

Regardless, the post’s author added a picture of a pair of lips, writing, “[Kiss] my ass, Gretchen Witchmere,” a reference to Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, an LGBTQ ally.

“This is America; Free speech. This small business has the right to refuse services. We are not bound to any oaths as realtors are regarding discrimination,” the post reads.

Numerous people voiced their disapproval online, especially the part of the post comparing people to dogs.

“This is a real post from a local salon in downtown Traverse City. You are allowed to your opinion but you are not allowed to discrimate (sic)!” wrote one Facebook user.

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“Thanks so much for teaching the community how to lose a business so quickly! YES- you do have a right to free speech, etc. but people have a right to hold you accountable as well & word of mouth travels VERY quickly these days, especially with social media being involved,” wrote another.

“Let’s not forget the central issue. It wasn’t necessarily the opinion — the expression of which is protected by the 1st Amendment. It was the dehumanization of an entire class of people, calling them animals in need of a pet groomer. This business owner is someone who needs to review the lessons of history to see where the willingness to dehumanize people in the other leads to a nation that murders its citizens,” wrote a third.

The Studio 8 Hair Lab owner, Christine Geiger, responded to the post on the “Overheard in Traverse City” Facebook group, seeking to defend the salon’s original post.

“I have no issues with LGB,” Geiger said, echoing talking points made by several right-wing pundits and anti-transgender activists. “It’s the TQ+ that I’m not going to support.

“For those that don’t know what the ‘+’ is for, it’s for MAP (Minor Attracted Person aka: pedophile),” Geiger added. “This stance was taken to insure (sic) that clients have the best experience and I am admitting that since I am not willing to play the pronoun game or cater to requests outside of what I perceive as normal this probably isn’t the best option for that type of client.

“There are over 800 licensed stylists in the County. There are plenty of salons/stylists willing to cater to what I will not,” she added. “This is a free country and I am not a slave to any narrative.”

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She ended with a warning to her fellow conservatives, warning them to resist accepting “woke” ideas as normal.

“Conservatives need to acclimate these woke individuals to their new reality. Conservatives have HAD ENOUGH of their ideologies being projected onto us. We used to ‘just let them be.’ Most of us kept our opinions to ourselves. I mean why look for unnecessary conflict; right? Well the other side used this against us. They mistook our silence for weakness and look where it got us,” she wrote.

“So now many of us bark back we speak out and we make it CLEAR where we stand on these issues. They can’t handle it. They aren’t prepared for this. So I am more than willing to take the first rounds of strike backs (sic) in hopes that more of you will see this and be inspired to stand up tall and speak your own truths and not simply let them be.”

While Michigan has earned praise from some corners for expanding its nondiscrimination law to prohibit discrimination in public accommodations based on sexual orientation and gender identity, the U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a decision that could peel away some of those protections.

The high court found that a Colorado web designer has a free speech right to refuse to create custom-made websites for same-sex weddings based on her personal religious opposition to same-sex marriage. While the decision does not necessarily allow across-the-board discrimination against LGBTQ people, it does provide new loopholes that could be used to justify discrimination.

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For example, Geiger, if she was ever sued for discrimination, could claim that her hair styling services are “custom” services that express a unique message for every individual client she serves, and are, therefore, a form of protected speech.

While it is unclear whether courts would accept such a claim, or find that hairstyles are inherently a form of protected artistic expression, it provides another avenue for those wishing to sidestep legal protections for LGBTQ individuals.

According to the Free Press, Studio 8 Hair Lab appears to have embraced the idea that the First Amendment should protect their refusal to serve certain people. On the salon’s Instagram page, its biography now says: “A private CONSERVATIVE business that does not cater to woke ideologies.” The business’s Instagram and Facebook accounts have also been set to private since the initial story broke. 

Jocelyn Link, a chairperson at Polestar LGBTQ+ Community Center in Traverse City, criticized Geiger’s comments and said they were not welcome in the wider community.

“Hate has shown time and time again to be a losing business strategy and we must not allow this blight to take root in our town,” Link told the Free Press in an email. “Traverse City has a vibrant and thriving queer community thanks in part to our many allies and queer-friendly businesses. Statements like the one from Studio 8 undermine the hard work that has been put in to make Traverse City the absolute best that it can be.”

The salon may also be experiencing blowback closer to home, as hair product manufacturer Jack Win Pro has distanced itself from Geiger’s remarks.

“It has come to our attention that disturbing comments have been attributed to one of our products’ users,” the company said in a statement posted to Instagram. “We want to make it clear that we disapprove of and reject hate speech in any form. Such actions go against the very values we hold dear and strive to uphold…. The stylist who made those comments no longer has authorization to represent our brand or products.

“Jack Winn Pro reaffirms its unwavering dedication to promoting equality and respect,” the statement added. “We will continue to educate ourselves and our community to foster a culture of equality and inclusivity.”